Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Right Head, Right Hands, Right Heart

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength.”

— Mark 12:30 (GNT)

The Greatest Commandment, as it is translated above, is the
imperative that is to encapsulate all facets of the Christian life. The task of
Christian discipleship, which is more a quest of ongoing sanctification,
requires a right head (right thinking), right hands (right practice), and a
right heart (the right motive).

Jesus exemplifies each of these in the case of a woman caught in
adultery in John chapter 8. The ruling Jews are testing Jesus, and the Lord
must determine, through the basis of Old Testament Scripture, what sort of
penalty this woman deserves. The Old Testament law allows for stoning, but
Jesus senses some dual iniquity in this case.

Are the religious leaders so blameless, themselves?

At this point Jesus cuts to the heart of the issues of humanity.
Within his mind he is cognitively aware of the disparity between the Jews’
self-righteousness and the holiness of God. His heart sensed this, and his mind
confirmed it. And his hands, with which he would practice the penalty (by throwing stones at her until she was a
bloody pulp on the ground, lifeless and even dead) told him that, in this case,
it was an unjust penalty.

Jesus doesn’t completely absolve her, however.

His wisdom dictates that she should, “Go, and sin no more,” so as not only to stop offending God, but,
perhaps more importantly, to stay out of the Jews’ harshly punitive way.

In modelling the right head, the right hands, and the right
heart, Jesus is modelling right relationship. He has brought together orthodoxy,
orthopraxy, and orthopathy.

Orthodoxy is rational, orthopraxy is relevant, and orthopathy is
relational.

As Christians we need to be informed in our minds, having
surrendered our thoughts to be ordered by the Lord. Our lives, having been
transformed by the renewing in our minds, mean that our hands are ready to do
whatever is relevant. And our thinking and practice are governed and affirmed
by a heart that seeks only after the Lord.

***

To love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart, soul, and
strength requires a right head (to think right), right hands (to do what is
right), and a right heart (and to be rightly motivated). This is our sole task.
Living the Christian life is no harder or easier than this.

Thankfulness when life is Disbelief
-
WHEN you’re overwhelmed of feeling, you don’t have enough minutes in the
day, be thankful you have no shortage of purpose.
When life has you cornered, ever...

3 days ago

Steve Wickham (Author Page)

My Ezine-Articles

My Passion... a work in progress.

Have you ever thought much about the purpose of your life? (The message to the meaning of life is more urgent than I first thought.)
sIt is to reconcile the inner discord within every single one of us. Most of us are actually somewhat blind to this. We search for peace almost everywhere but often miss the actual source.
sIt’s about God. It’s about relationship. It’s about growing passionately toward God, worshipping Him via the things we think, say and do -- a commitment for the rest of our lives. At its essence, this involves a continual process of learning.

My Specific Call

My key passion is upholding a vision of life balance and re-creation of value for living, and an exploration of the spiritual person within us. As an advocate for a fair, right and just life, I have a passion for Biblical wisdom, including the Psalms.